August 19, 2010 -
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected New Mexico State
University (NMSU), Las Cruces,
NM, to lead a new Air
Transportation Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation.

The center is a
partnership of academia, industry, and government, developed for the
purpose of creating a world-class consortium that will address current
and future challenges for commercial space transportation.

"The Obama
Administration is committed to making sure the
United States
remains the world leader in space development and exploration," said
Secretary LaHood.

"This new center
underscores that commitment, and will ensure that the commercial space
community can meet our current and future space transportation needs."
NMSU Las Cruces will lead a team of colleges and universities throughout
the country. These include
StanfordUniversity in
California, the University
of Florida at Tallahassee,
the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne,
the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, the FloridaCenter
for Advanced Aero-Propulsion based in Tallahassee,
the University of Colorado at Boulder,
and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Congress
authorized Air Transportation Centers of Excellence under the Federal
Aviation Administration Research, Engineering and Development
Authorization Act of 1990. This legislation enables the FAA to work with
universities and their industry partners to conduct research in
environment and aviation safety, and other activities to assure a safe
and efficient air transportation system. With the establishment of this
center, research will extend to cutting-edge technologies and
infrastructure for private human spaceflight and orbital debris
mitigation.

The
United States' space program has three
sectors - civil, military and commercial. The FAA's Office of Commercial
Space Transportation is responsible for licensing, regulating and
promoting the commercial sector space industry. Since the office was
created in 1984, the FAA has issued licenses for more than 200 launches,
has licensed the operation of eight FAA-approved launch sites known as
spaceports, and has helped ensure that no loss of life or serious injury
has been associated with these efforts.

The FAA has
established eight other centers of excellence, focusing on air cabin
environment, noise and emissions mitigation, airport pavement
technology, operations research, advanced materials, aircraft
structures, airworthiness assurance, and general aviation.